Just when you think it's Spring...

 There were definite signs of Spring.  Crocuses...

 more crocuses...

 the last hurrah of the snowdrops...

flowering away with the cyclamen coum...

 more crocuses...

 and more...

 Hellebores...

 and daffodils...

 then, last weekend, this (again!)

 Those poor plants - they wouldn't know if they were coming or going.  Luckily, the snow had gone by last Tuesday and today...

 anemone blanda...

 camellia flowers...

 cardamine quinquifolia (I bought this last year, so this is the first time I have seen it in flower - so pretty)...

a self-sown sweet violet...

 bright and bold primulas...

 lovely blue scillas...

and a blue hyacinth (Blue Magic).  Is it Spring now?  Well, it looks like it today but there have been mumblings about a cold snap over the Easter weekend, including more snow.  I am really hoping they are wrong!

Signs of Spring

There are signs of Spring which makes me feel so cheerful.  In a pot at the front of the house, Prunus Kojo-no-mai  is flowering beautifully.  It only had a few flowers last year so is doing much better now.

 A blue hyacinth in the back garden is flowering for the third year in a row (I think).

 Primroses are blooming...

 ...as are Tete a Tete daffodils.  The smaller daffodils seem to come back more reliably in my garden.

 Crocus 'Jeanne D'Arc with the palest lilac lines inside the petals.

 Reliable grape hyacinth...

 ...and a single anemone blanda.

 More crocuses with some beautiful veining.

 Pale blue scillas, shyly facing away from the camera.

 Narcissus Jetfire - a single but very welcome survivor from a large group I planted a few years ago.

 The stars of the garden must be the hellebores - this is a new one this year 'Harvington Single Red' which I bought mail order from here and would happily recommend as the plant was in lovely condition and has three buds on it, which I wasn't expecting.

 This is Harvington Pink Speckled, (I think) and it has made a lovely clump in the garden.  To see the markings, you do have to lift the flower up though.

 Finally, Harvington Pink Picotee (I think) which is clumping up nicely too.  Lots of colour to enjoy and more to look forward to, including tulips!  I really enjoy this time of year.

Spring Colours

My first tulips of this year are flowering - these are Single Early.  I have lots more in bud and as I am just a little obsessed with them, I am sure there will be many more photos to come.  The interesting thing is that these first two echo some of  the other colours in the garden at the moment...

 ...such as the fuchsia/magenta pink of these primulas...

 ...and the delicate pale yellow of the primroses.

 Then there is the fuchsia and purple Lathyrus Vernus, grown in a pot.

The anemone blanda from last year... (still in their original posts - shame on me for not planting them out!)

 ...echoing the pretty graduated blue and purple of the grape hyacinth - muscari latifolium.

Finally, a hellebore, with a primrose behind it and another Lathyrus which I planted a couple of days ago, having had to remove more montbretia.  It looks like a little snapshot of Spring.

Vagaries of the weather, but plants carry on regardless

 In the last week, the weather has been really interesting.  We have had double rainbows - this one is taken from the back garden...

 ..and this one was out of the back window of the car, on the way home up the A1.

 Then there have been the biggest hailstones I have seen in a long time.  While I was taking the photo, they came down quite hard and I could really feel them hitting me!  I put the five pence piece in the shot as a size comparison.

 The sunny days have been loved by the plants - above is blossom from Prunus Kojo-no-mai which is a real star at the moment.

I bought two pots of these bright and cheerful anemone blanda at a well-known DIY store.  I like the way the flowers open fully in the sun and then close up again.

 Here's a progress report on the tulips (Ballerina and Black Parrot) from last year which I dried and re-planted.  They are much further on than the new ones I planted, but at the moment, they seem a bit spindly, although they may fill out a bit yet.

 These little sweet violets are blooming along a communal path at the back of our line of terrace houses.

The pushkinia is doing well and I do like the pale blue veining on the petals.  Even though the weather is unpredictable (this is England, after all!), the plants are heralding Spring.

Spring Green

 I know that it isn't Spring and I still think that we'll get Winter with snow and ice - it's not over yet - but I was cooking Leek risotto and was struck by the lovely vibrant green and white of the leeks.  (Unfortunately, once incorporated into the risotto, they go a rather sludgier green which isn't so attractive.)  Anyway, this got me thinking about green and I had a wander in the garden to see whether there was anything to report.

 I'm not sure what this is - it is in a pot where I planted lots of Anemone Blanda, but whether it is one of those, or whether it is a rogue plant from somewhere else, remains to be seen. So far, it is the only pot in the twenty or so which I planted showing any signs of doing anything.  It is in a rather shady part of the garden, so the flash kicked in, hence the rather bright highlights!

 My crocuses are starting to grow.

 Now this photo represents an amazing thing.  It may not look much, but these are hyacinths which we bought last year at The Garden House, Saxby.  Once they had finished flowering, I wasn't sure what to do with them as in the past, I haven't successfully grown hyacinths in the border.  This time, not wanting to get rid of them, I thought I'd plant them, which I did, with no thought of ever seeing them again.  However, here they are and  I am really delighted!

Here they are from February 2013, having just been purchased.   I'll keep you posted on their progress.

Finally, I couldn't post about Spring and Green without mentioning my favourite flower from Winter/Spring - the humble snowdrop.  These were given to me by Mum, from her garden and they are quite large ones.  I love to see them every year as they look so delicate but are, in fact, incredibly tough plants, bursting through the soil despite whatever the weather can throw at them. You have just got to admire their tenacity.